Ontario will rely on private sector to sell recreational Cannabis

Premier Doug Ford is giving up Ontario’s monopoly on weed, opening sales of recreational cannabis to private stores by April 1 in a dramatic shift that will make this province the biggest prize for Canada’s emerging legal marijuana industry.

The move scraps the defeated Liberal government’s plan for 150 brick-and-mortar Ontario Cannabis Stores, modelled on LCBO outlets, by 2020. However, until a private retail system is in place, the OCS website will be the only legal source for recreational pot smokers in Ontario after cannabis use is legalized nationwide on Oct. 17.